Rating: 
Summary: A tribute to the solitary beauty of Tuscany
Review: This is a beautifully written memoir of one persons voyage into a foreign culture and country, not a travel book filled with cold hard facts. The author, who teaches in San Francisco, and spends her summers along with her husband Ed in their home in Tuscany started the transformation on their Tuscan home with a fervor that actually pulses, she is so talented in bringing it to life for the reader. Mayes has found her heart and home in the Tuscan countryside. Throughout the reading of this book, I felt the whimsical need to become a part of her adventure. She lifted me away to take part in this magnificent venture of finding the perfect house, followed by a renovation that uncovers a hidden fresco covered by white wash years before. History sings out with every turn of the shovel as the land is cleared and the olive trees are trimmed. We are also taken on a tour of the area and it's many churches. Throughout the book the Italian people are introduced like slices of life and imaginings on the part of the author, because she quickly admits she is not knowledgable in many areas but is just finding her way. Mayes is a connoisseur of food and is quick to explain that cooking is a "destiny" in her family. She presents an extensive section of simple but elegant recipes that will make the reader's mouth water. I have already purchased the second book, titled BELLA TUSCANY and can't wait to get back to the beautiful Tuscan countryside. Kelsana 7/30/02
Rating: 
Summary: At Home on the Tuscan Range
Review: "Every morning," Mayes writes, "I look out the window at the valley filled with fog, pink tinted at dawn on clear days, a roiling gray when the high clouds blow across from the North. These are seamless days of walks and books, of taking walks to Anghiari, Siena, Assisi, and nearby Luciagnano, whose town walls describe a graceful ellipse. At night we grill in the fireplace. . . a seven-mile walk along the firewall cancels the effects of one evening of grilling." It took some effort to get to these "seamless" days, and that effort is described in simple, colorful and sensuous prose. Beginning with "I am about to buy a house in a foreign country. A house with the beautiful name of Bramasole," Mayes (easy to confuse the name with Peter Mayle, who did the same in France and wrote about it in much the same way) begins an adventure that, to my taste, is more fun to read about than to do. "A hundred years may not be long enough to restore this house and land," she writes. "Upstairs I rub windows with vinegar, shining the green scallop of the hills along the sky." This is work, man! And she loves every minute of it -- and Italy. In the midst of it all and just before she's about to return to the States for a visit, an acquaintance calls, thinking of doing the same thing. "Is it worth it?" the woman asks. Mayle writes, "I recognize the impulse. I recognize the desire to surprise your own life..." The caller asks if there's a downside. Mayes remembers problems faced and conquered and writes, "...this is nothing compared to the absolute joy of being in possession of this remarkable little hillside on the edge of Tuscany." It has required a mammoth output of energy and imagination but there are no regrets. The recipes scattered throughout are delicious. I remember my own surprise at the quality of the vegetables in Italy and the remarkable cooking of the Italians, which had much more to do with fresh vegetables than it did with pasta. And the lemons! Do try the Lemon Cake recipe -- it's ambrosial even using inferior American grocery store fruit. This is a delightful book. It evokes memories of the lush Tuscan countryside -- the charm of its people, its light, its history and adventuresome Americans who make it home.
Rating: 
Summary: A self-absorbed treatise
Review: I read this book at the urging of my daughter, hoping to learn something about the Tuscan area, people and culture. What a mistake! This was the longest bit of ego-centered writing I have ever had the misforture to read. Ms Mayes is so determined to impress readers with her intelligence and cosmopolitan attitude that she fails to to give us any really interesting or useful information about the region (other than the recipes). Her character description is so poor that I learned more about the tmporary Polish workers she hired than I did about her husband/partner (I don't know if they are married or not). He comes across as a lackey, doing odd jobs for her. On another subject, she attempts to give a scholarly review of the religious history and practices of the region but what comes across is her total lack of understanding of the Catholic faith.
My advice: buy a good travel book if you plan to visit Italy, and leave this book for the dust bin where it belongs.
Rating: 
Summary: Beyond Pretentious
Review: Tuscany is without question one of the most beautiful places on earth. I was hoping to revisit it through this book, was I wrong! The only thing I felt like I visited was Ms Mayes bank account. The itinerary goes something like this: To do list:
1. Hmm, oh lets go buy ourselves one of those quaint little fixer uppers, we must have an extra million or so lying around. (dollars not lire!)
2. Got to hire some workers to fix up the place, well that's gonna cost me, oh well, those Italians, so amusing.
3. Better run out and buy some pricy Tuscan trinkets to decorate the place. Got some company coming and will they be impressed!
4. My goodness, these nasty vineyards are in bad shape,
Ca-ching!
5. Gosh it sure gets hot here during my 3 month vacations in Tuscany, so much nicer when I come back for a month or so at Christmas.
6. Darn, I must jet back to my mansion in San Franciso, those flights so looong, Why can't the Concorde fly into Firenza! See the trend here? Ms Mayes comes off as a rich American unconcerned with the beauty and rich individuality of Tuscany, the whole thing reads like one big shopping trip. She has actually produced a book that makes Italy seem dull, something I would have believed impossible. The only reason I am giving it 2 stars is that the recipes are quite good.
Rating: 
Summary: A Boring Listen
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, but the audio version is almost more than anyone can bear. It is read by Frances Mayes (the author), but she reads it with no expression, as if she is hearing about this for the first time. Her heavy southern accent, while authentic, makes it hard to understand. This fascinating narrative would be so much better read by a professional actor.
Rating:
Summary: Don't change the subject.
Review: When I bought this book I was hoping to read about several topics
related to Tuscany, a famous region from Antiquity through the Middle-ages to the present day but there are only a few mentions as far as history is concerned. Nevertheless the book is interesting because it tells about the troublesome renovation of a house bought by F.Mayer an her husband. This gives the opportunity to describe the locals and their habits, not only the workers on their house but also the people in the nearby town.
Tastily culinary recipies are given on several occasions.
But at the end of the book dissapointment begins. She starts
telling about her hometown in the US and about someone who keeps a kangaroo in his backyard and other pointless facts. Maybe F.Mayer had an agreement with her publisher to deliver a certain amount of pages - I don't know - but I wonder why so many writers can't stick to their subject at the end of their book and become longwinded.
Rating:
Summary: A true inspiration
Review: As I read this book, I have been remodeling my home. The story has not only kept me excited about my project but also longing to travel to such a beautiful land. It's nice to hear how gracefully someone can handle an the overwhelming task of remodelling and still keep in mind the rewarding experience. I would recommend this book to anyone starting such a project.
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Summary: Armchair travelling
Review: I bought Under The Tuscan Sun some years ago, and have not counted how many times I have read it since then. Frances Mayes and her husband bought an old house in Tuscany , and the book is about the restoration of this house, Bramasole, and the time they are spending there, a totally other kind of life than the busy working winters they spend in USA where they usually live. In Tuscany they live for some months every summer, and are also spending other holidays there. And in the book Mayes open the door to her new home and her new country for us, inviting us in. And I never say no to her invitations. For me this is a book that takes me to the dreams I have deep inside myself, bying a house in Italy and live the sweet life there, cooking, gardening, cappuccinoing.... you name it. I think we all have a dream of our own "Tuscany" deep inside, and Frances Mayes shows with her creative writing that this dream might come true one day for all of us. I and my family have a cabin here in Norway, at the coast, where we love to spend our vacations and our free week-ends. And my favorite past time there is reading once again Frances Mayes book about Tuscany. Her books has given me a totally new meaning of owning another home, a home where we can go and live out our dreams, the dreams of a sweet live in contact with nature.
I know I will read the book again and again, and it has also inspired me to do my own writing, from my life under the Norwegian sun. Britt Arnhild Lindland
Rating:
Summary: All you ever wanted to know about Italian cooking
Review: I enjoyed her look into the Italian culture and the differences between the "American way of doing things" and the "Italian way of doing things". She is definately a talented writer and she can capture your attention with her use of the written word. There was too much about cooking/food in general. You could almost use this book as a menu guide in Italy. She should have focused more on the interesting cultural observations and less on what she just ate (or is about to eat). Give me a break...an entire chapter on olive oil!
Rating:
Summary: Tuscany, The Return
Review: After reading Frances Mayes, Under The Tuscan Sun. I once again I was thrust into the wonderful sights, sounds and tastes of Tuscany. It has been 15 years since my travels to Italy, however, Frances' descriptions of Tuscany are so vivid that once you begin to read you will be drawn deeper and deeper into the most wonderful memories of previous journeys. If you have never traveled to Italy, Frances' book describes the "good life in Italy exactly as it truly is. Her descriptions of the towns, the people and the food is incredible. All I had to do was shut my eyes and there I was again in beautiful Tuscany.
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